Farm Africa is an
international non-governmental organization working to increase the incomes and
improve food security of smallholder farmers, pastoralists,
agro-pastoralists, and forest dwellers in East Africa.
The Kenya country office is currently recruiting highly qualified persons
to fill the following position:
Job Title: Agribusiness Manager, MAEF
Reports To: Head of Market Engagement
Staff Reporting to
Post Holder: Portfolio Officers,
Grants Specialist
Location: Nairobi with regular travel locally and
within East Africa
Duration & Hours: One year, renewable
Purpose of the Role: To provide
leadership and oversight of all enterprise development and capacity building
activities of Farm Africa’s Maendeleo Agricultural Enterprise Fund (MAEF).
Key Tasks and
Responsibilities
1. Define and
implement an investment strategy based on market research, and ensure that work
is consistent with Farm Africa’s strategies and business plans
- Identify
priority areas for investment and plan market interventions where MAEF can
have highest impact
- Set and
take full responsibility for achieving overall and individual grantee
targets related to sales, income and company profitability
2. Identify and select MAEF investments (grants)
- Source
for business opportunities through various methods, including networking,
advertising and other solicitation means
- Working
with the Advisory Committee, review and shortlist concept notes and
business cases
- Work
with potential grantees to develop business plans
- Lead
the final selection process including subsequent budget and contract
negotiations with selected grantees
3. Oversee grantees in project implementation, providing business
capacity building and other support, as needed
- Monitor
grantees’ progress against targets through regular report reviews, site
visits and third-party verification
- Assess
capacity building needs of grantees and ensure proper support is provided,
either internally or through external consultants/specialist firms
- Liaise
with and create partnerships with relevant companies, organizations,
financial institutions and government agencies, to ensure success of
project outcomes
- Document
and disseminate lessons learned
4. Provide leadership in overall management of the MAEF
programme in accordance with project documents, work plans and budgets
- Responsible
for the preparation and implementation of budgets and work plans
- Write
or review and approve narrative and financial reports to MAEF donors
- Comply
with Farm Africa internal processes and procedures
5. Supervise MAEF staff members and collaborate with Farm
Africa’s other projects and senior managers in East Africa and London
- Provide
guidance and mentoring to MAEF programme and support staff
- Conduct
regular appraisals, set and monitor objectives, assist with work planning
- Liaise
and collaborate with other Farm Africa country offices involved with the
MAEF project, including CDs, Communications, M&E and any other relevant
staff
6. Increase visibility through promotion and marketing of the
MAEF programme and grantees’ commercial activities
- Assist
the Country Director and London-based fundraising staff to actively seek
new funding opportunities for MAEF
- Contribute
to writing funding proposals and preparing budgets
- As
directed by the Country Director, liaise with current and potential donors
7. Any other duties as directed by the Head of Market Engagement
or the Country Director
Education, qualifications & other knowledge
Education, qualifications & other knowledge
Essential
- A
Bachelor’s degree in a relevant subject
- Demonstrated
knowledge of rural enterprise development and/or small business management
- Minimum
5 years’ professional experience in agriculture, agribusiness or related
sector
- Fluency
in written and spoken English
Desirable
- MBA or
equivalent
- Private
sector experience
- Experience
in banking, finance, investment or related field
- Fluency
in Swahili or other East African language
Experience
Essential
- Capacity
building of organisations and companies
- Financial
management and budgeting
Desirable
- Business
planning and company growth strategies
Skills & abilities
Essential
- Networking,
collaboration and convening capacity
- Communication
(both verbal & written)
- Report
writing
Desirable
- Negotiating
and managing partner relationships
- Fundraising
and policy influencing
Values
Farm Africa seeks to
employ those who believe, as we do, that farmers can and will play a key role
in achieving long-term rural prosperity in Africa and who seek to deliver on
those beliefs by:
- being
experts in our field, delivering insightful/impactful evidence-based
solutions
- pushing
boundaries, being creative with new and old solutions
- acting
for the long-term, building relationships and delivering long-lasting
change for farmers
- working
flexibly, taking advantage of the most effective solutions, whether from
the communities, private sector or government
- sharing
knowledge with others, reaching more farmers than we do alone, ensuring
effective technologies are widely accessed.
Job Title: Project
Coordinator (PC)
Reports To: Programmes
Manager (PM)
Staff Reporting to the Post
Holder: Project Officer,
Location: Kitale,
with regular field travel
Duration: One
year fixed term, renewable
Purpose of the Role: To
manage the implementation, monitoring and reporting of the Youth Empowerment in
Sustainable Agriculture (YESA) project.
This position requires an
experienced manager with strong technical skills in implementing agriculture
projects specifically with youth and with a track record of production,
marketing, product logistics, post-harvest handling, seed systems or similar.
Key Tasks and Responsibilities
- To provide overall technical and operations
leadership in implementation of the YESA project
- To manage the project in accordance with
project documents, work plans and budgets and ensure that work is
consistent with Farm Africa’s strategies and the conditions of donor
contracts
- To line manage the project staff and provide
technical and operational backstopping while, on day to day basis, be
directly engaged in practical elements of project implementation
- To manage and nurture mutually beneficial
partnerships with other stakeholders, including other NGOs, County
government, private sector companies, etc
- To keep abreast of relevant changes in
government policy that could affect the project and advise senior
management accordingly
- To play an active role as a member of the Farm
Africa Kenya team.
- To prepare the project budget and work plan in
line with Farm Africa’s planning process and schedules on timely basis
- To prepare and submit quarterly narrative and
financial reports in the standard format to the line manager with both
internal and donor requirements
- To ensure that financial management in the
field office is in compliance with the basic standards contained in the
Farm Africa finance procedures manual and donor requirements
- To work with senior management and the
UK-based teams in identifying new business opportunities, new project
design, contributing to funding proposal preparation, and interacting with
donors, as needed
- In collaboration with the M&E manager, to
develop and implement a project monitoring and evaluation process,
capturing project outcomes/impact and lessons learned.
- In liaison with the PM, to lead on the
recruitment of new staff to the project team, including proper induction
processes
- To provide leadership to all project staff and
develop effective team work and individual staff skills relevant to the
project and the Farm Africa business plan.
- To carry out quarterly and annual appraisals
with all line-managed staff in line with Farm Africa staff appraisal
system.
- In consultation with the PM, to act as an
ambassador, promoting the project and the work of Farm Africa, including
hosting visitors, speaking at workshops, conferences and meeting donors
and other officials as and when required
- To ensure that the project contributes to,
responds to and complies with all relevant agriculture sector policy
developments.
- To identify and lobby for policy support to
smallholder producer and marketing groups at county and higher levels of
governance.
- To contribute to the development of Farm
Africa policies and strategies related to smallholder climate smart
agriculture.
- To participate in regional programme meetings
with other project coordinators, as requested by senior management
- To undertake any other duty as may be directed
by the line manager or CD from time to time
Education, qualifications & other
knowledge
Essential
- Bachelor degree in relevant
agriculture/natural resource/ agri economics / marketing or related field
- Knowledge of the development and policy
environment in Kenya
- Good understanding of youth-friendly value
chains and business development / marketing
Desirable
- Masters degree in relevant subject
- Knowledge & practical experience of farmer
participatory approaches
- Previous private sector agriculture value
chains and rural development experience
Experience
Essential
- At least 2 years field based experience
implementing agricultural projects and with youth
Desirable
- Experience with a private sector agricultural
actor
Skills & Abilities
Essential
- Project management
- Team building
- Financial management
- Agricultural value chains development
- Participatory planning, monitoring &
evaluation
- Communication (both verbal & written)
- Proposal & report writing
Desirable
- Negotiating & managing partner
relationships
- Field level training
- Policy influencing
- Fundraising
- Capacity building of organisations &
individuals
Values:
Farm Africa seeks to employ those who believe, as we do, that farmers can and
will play a key role in achieving long-term rural prosperity in Africa and who
seek to deliver on those beliefs by:
- being experts in our field, delivering
insightful/impactful evidence-based solutions
- pushing boundaries, being creative with new
and old solutions
- acting for the long-term, building
relationships and delivering long-lasting change for farmers
- working flexibly, taking advantage of the most
effective solutions, whether from the communities, private sector or
government
- sharing knowledge with others, reaching more
farmers than we do alone, ensuring effective technologies are widely
accessed.
Country
Director, Tanzania
Location: Dar es Salaam with significant national travel and some international travel
Duration: Fixed term, 3 year contract
Salary: Highly competitive
Farm Africa is a different kind of charity, working to end hunger and bring prosperity to rural Africa.
Location: Dar es Salaam with significant national travel and some international travel
Duration: Fixed term, 3 year contract
Salary: Highly competitive
Farm Africa is a different kind of charity, working to end hunger and bring prosperity to rural Africa.
The
impact that we are making with our long-term sustainable, community-led
projects in sub-Saharan Africa is enabling communities to significantly improve
their livelihoods and manage their natural resources sustainably.
Tanzania is one of our growing programmes, and we need someone who can help us bring our pipeline of projects into fruition.
Tanzania is one of our growing programmes, and we need someone who can help us bring our pipeline of projects into fruition.
Responsible for the delivery of the country
strategy, managing all operational aspects of the Tanzania country programme,
including relationships with multiple partners and an income target of around
£2m per year.
We are looking for skilled senior manager who has the ability to build the capacity of staff to achieve Farm Africa’s strategic objectives; whilst proactively managing relationships with external stakeholders, including institutional donors, civil society partners and the private sector.
We are looking for skilled senior manager who has the ability to build the capacity of staff to achieve Farm Africa’s strategic objectives; whilst proactively managing relationships with external stakeholders, including institutional donors, civil society partners and the private sector.
Of
particular importance in the Ethiopia context is someone who can maintain and
further develop a constructive relationship with our most important partner-
the Government of Ethiopia.
We
are looking for someone with the ability to drive and prioritise innovative
engagement with the multiple partners including rural communities, the private
sector and other stakeholders in the agricultural sector along with a proven
track record of providing broader input into leadership, contributing to the
overall strategy and Farm Africa’s future growth.
You will have a successful track record of working in long-term development and a strong understanding of donor environments, working closely with communities, government and the private sector.
You will have a successful track record of working in long-term development and a strong understanding of donor environments, working closely with communities, government and the private sector.
You
will have lived and worked in sub-Saharan Africa, have excellent hands-on
programme, financial, strategic and human resource management experience.
Exceptional
multi-tasking, networking, relationship-building and financial management
skills are pre-requisites.
If you are interested in these roles, more information can be found in the appointment details.
If you are interested in these roles, more information can be found in the appointment details.
If would like to apply, please send a
CV and one page covering letter detailing how you meet the person specification
to recruitment@farmafrica.org by 5pm on Monday 18 August 2014.
If you have any questions regarding this role, please submit them in writing to recruitment@farmafrica.org.
If you have any questions regarding this role, please submit them in writing to recruitment@farmafrica.org.